Gin in all of its dark, twisty history, does not have much of a legacy in Canada. Despite this, British Columbia is bursting with distilleries that are straight up developing some great gins. Recent changes in liquor laws favoring craft distilleries and a unique desire to showcase the amazingness of the region have culminated in an environment ripe for gin creation that is leading gin production in Canada.

This is a gin that hasn’t really been on my radar until now. To be honest I have a slight mistrust for flashy packaging – I may be a bit of a purist in that I think a gin should stand on its own. Despite my inherent distrust though, I have tasted some great gins with obvious effort having gone into branding and packaging, and have been suitably impressed with the quality of the gin. This brings us to Empiric Gin.

It’s hard to argue with the fact that bees are awesome. They pollinate plants to help make new plants, and they make both beeswax and honey. Honey, as it turns out, makes really good gin. Of course, regardless of the type of base spirit used, the distiller orchestrates the flavor profile. Wayward Distillation House, based in the Comox valley on Vancouver Island, does a great job of this with their spectacularly unique Unruly gin. Unruly gin uses honey spirit as a base and adds classic botanicals along with one or two twists to produce a smooth, pleasantly sweet and distinctive gin.